WHAT IS THE JORNADES INTERNACIONALS FOLKLÒRIQUES DE CATALUNYA?

In the year of 1972 in Barcelona, and under the embrace of the Esbart Lluís Millet, a folklore diffusion movement was created under the name of Jornades Internacionals Folklòriques (JIF), that worked under the slogan of "The people's dances for our people".

Although the idea was clear and very well reflected on the slogan, the initial reality was limited to the realization of a folklore dance festival that was only presented in Barcelona with the presence of folklore groups coming from around the world, which alternated their performances with the ones from our esbarts.

Quite soon two things became obvious: that the shows that were offered were great, considering they allowed us to know what we could call folkloric show, less known and even fought in our country, and that the groups that visited us had a very high level of artistic quality.

Other factor conditioning us very often was that the groups coming from far away didn't found worth the effort of the displacement just for two shows, and this situation happened not only in the artistic but also in the economical sense. This was a problem that was valid even for groups that came from nearer places than we did.

This is how an extent of the JIF was born, becoming JIF-Catalunya and increasing its field of action to all of the Catalan territory. The JIF-Catalunya have been growing with time and of the first 13 villages having shows, there are now around 43.

During these JIF-Catalunya shows, strong popular cultural demonstrations take place around our country causing all villages presenting the Jornades celebrate also other folkloric acts like the sardanes or ballets during these days. This way, we accomplish folkloric impact to reach beyond our borders.

From Llívia to Sant Carles de la Ràpita and from Barcelona to Bellpuig, for eleven days, more than 80.000 people get together in the Jornades Internacionals Folklòriques. Throughout the all editions of the JIF, more of 250 groups from 76 countries as well as 7 autonomic communities have participated. The locations are diverse, from public squares to pavilions, as well as theatres, casals, etc.

The slogan announced in 1972 is still alive in the ADIFOLK way of thinking. It might be expanded nowadays, but its spirit keeps intact: